Saturday, November 8, 2008

New Cinema from Spain at NWFF : Nov 14 - 20

Short festival of new cinema from Spain screening at the Northwest Film Forum in the month of November.
Adventurous (by degrees, the Serra being the most unclassifiable and genre defying) and critically lauded
(in particular by FIPRESCI in the case of "Yo/Me" and Film Comment for "In the City of Sylvia") narrative
drama from Félix Viscarret, José Luis Guerin, Albert Serra and Rafa Cortés along with relatively new names;
Iciar Bollain, Carles Bosch, Gracia Querejeta, and Jaime Rosales. Check the Northwest Film Forum for
screening times and schedule:

"José Luis Guerín nimbly brings moviemaking and moviegoing back to some of their lovely early pleasures
in his masterful In the City of Sylvia. He is so successful at modernizing and rarefing these elements that it
forces one to reconsider the dialogue and special effects in other films as clutter. In the City of Sylvia is an
everyday, yet sublime, vision, one so exquisite you’d think that everything Guerín looks at—the city of
Strasbourg, its flaneurs and shops, even the sun that shines on it-was created for the loving gaze of his
camera. The story also evokes the most blessed moments of a New Wave work like Agnès Varda’s Cleo from
5 to 7. During a few languid summer days, a young foreigner spends his afternoons sketching in an outdoor
café. He is looking for a woman named Sylvia who he’d met years before in the same city. He is also sketching
the many attractive young women he sees everywhere, any one of whom could be her. Then one afternoon,
thinking he’s actually seen her, he sets off through the city to confront his memory. Guerín’s graceful work
eloquently captures the feeling of being in love with love, and the youthful sense of a world filled with an
almost limitless sensuality.

"Named “Revelation of the Year” by FIPRESCI, the international association of film critics at Cannes 2007,
"Me" is the story of a man who, suspecting he is to be accused of something he hasn’t done, sets out to
prove an innocence that nobody yet questions. Every attempt to correct this mistake leads him closer to
the real problem: himself. Set on Majorca island, the atmosphere is supported by strange characters,
suspicious looks, and a surreally nightmarish climate. They begin to build into an unsettling and
meticulously crafted drama. Rafa Cortés’ burgeoning talent is undeniable, creating a palpable
atmosphere with the help of Alex Brendemühl’s (who co-wrote the film) brilliant performance."

Documenting adventures in explorative modern music, film, visual art, architecture, design and performance. Regardless of genre, class or style. Essentially thoughts, reflections and criticism on non-commercial contemporary artforms that come to my attention. Either through witnessing them here in my home city, while traveling abroad, or the journalistic work of others. As well as occasional interjections of existential, experiential, cultural or political enthusiasms and consternations that may crop up along the way. ie; Life.